Sharks at Knights (Game 9): Lines, game thread and how to watch

The San Jose Sharks want and need to prove that they are better than last season. One way to do that is to win Game 9 against the Vegas Golden Knights. Last season the team needed 11 games to get their first win of the season, tonight they can do it two games better.

This is not a game like the game against the Anaheim Ducks or the Chicago Blackhawks. The Golden Knights are still a good team. Vegas is second in the Pacific Division with a record of 5-2-1 and the team has no trouble scoring points. Mark Stone appears to be healthy. He is second in the league with 14 points. Close behind is Jack Eichel with 13 points and Ivan Barbashev with 11 points. Barbashev is tied for third in the league with seven goals.

This will be the first time Tomas Hertl will face the Sharks in black and gold. Hertl has eight points in eight games, evenly split with four goals and four assists.

While Adin Hill is considered the Golden Knights' best goaltender, he is surpassed by backup Ilya Samsonov. Samsonov is 2-0-0 this season with a save percentage of .944. Hill is now 3-2-0 with a save percentage of .864.

According to SinBin.Vegas on Twitter, it will be Samsonov on the net tonight.

Finally, Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore has a shiny new contract. The 29-year-old was expected to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, but the two teams avoided any problems by agreeing to a seven-year contract with a maximum of $7.425 million per season.

San Jose Sharks lineup as of October 26, 2024

San Jose Hockey Now's Sheng Peng is with the Sharks. These are the lines he reports.

Forward
Danil Gushchin – Mikael Granlund – Tyler Toffoli
William Eklund – Alex Wennberg – Fabian Zetterlund
Barclay Goodrow – Will Smith – Ty Dellandrea
Carl Grundstrom – Nico Sturm – Luke Kunin

defense
Jake Walman – Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro – Jan Rutta
Henry Thrun-Jack Thompson

goalkeeper
Vitek Vanecek
Mackenzie Blackwood

Tonight it's the Vegas Golden Knights

Look for the return of William Karlsson tonight, which means Nick Hague will be out. SinBin.Vegas reports that the lines will look like this.

Forward
Ivan Barbashev – Jack Eichel – Mark Stone
Brett Howden – Tomas Hertl – Pavel Dorofeev
Tanner Pearson – William Karlsson – Alexander Holtz
Brendan Brisson – Nicholas Roy – Keegan Kolesar

defense
Noah Hanifin – Alex Pietrangelo
Shea Theodore – Zach Whitecloud
Brayden McNabb – Kaedan Korczak

goalkeeper
Ilya Samsonov
Adin Hill

Here's how to watch the San Jose Sharks take on the Vegas Golden Knights tonight

The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. PT/10:00 p.m. ET at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Sharks fans in the Bay Area can watch the game on NBC Sports California. You can also listen to the radio call with the great Dan Rusanowsky on the Sharks Audio Network via the Sharks app.

In the meantime, Vegas Golden Knights fans can watch the game on Vegas 34 or stream it on KnightTime+. The audio call will be on FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340 or Deportes Vegas 1460.

No matter where you're watching, be sure to come back here to talk everything happening on the ice and around the league at Puck Drop.